As Cibu Brand Manager, I’ve created a lot of 259 hair
styling tutorials. Cibu Do of the Day, a web series in which I attempted a new
hair style every work day for three months, was a viral sensation in 2009. Cibu
gained tremendous social traction and generated e-commerce income to boot. Alas, I was before my time. Priorities shifted and like
many grassroots business endeavors, my focus was redirected towards more
profitable projects. People always asked about those videos, though. The simple
answer is that it takes a boatload of billable hours to film, edit, post,
promote and moderate social content. Add salon expansion, repackaging, rebranding and two babies to the mix and ain’t
nobody got time for that.

A CFO once told me that social media
had a dubious ROI, at best. He was wrong. In 2015, social content is currency. And since Cibu
is generating a lot of well-deserved media attention it’s clear that I need to dust
off the bathroom mirror and make fresh Cibu vids to support the cause.

Mise en place! My equipment needed upgrading. Daunted by the task, I was certain new
technology and hours of self teaching were required. Amazon was like, um no –
here’s an iPhone tripod. Then Amazon sold me a selfie stick because that’s what
everyone else who bought the tripod was buying.

So stay tuned for the return of self generated Cibu social content.
With my reduced wardrobe, I’ve surely added enough time to my morning to film
hair tutorials!

Today’s outfit is pretty simple. Get used to this dress; you
will see it often. Versatile,
comfortable and easy to dress up or down, it’s the perfect summer accessory to
a selfie stick.

I love stripes. At least that’s the story my outfits are telling. Truth is, my propensity towards stripe selection is almost entirely subconscious. There is a Benton stripe dress on my mental summer shopping list and damned if I’m not wearing one right now. Didn’t even connect the dots.

Last night we moved next door. Our new tenants don’t arrive until June and we’ve had the keys to the new place since late February. Schlepping a few items ten feet across the lawn has been a nightly ritual for several weeks. Yesterday was the final haul - beds and the like. Easy peasy, right? Not quite.

The thing about having two homes right next to each other and no sense of urgency to vacate/occupy either is that you just kind of leave a pile of non-essentials behind. Apparently disorganized non essentials make me very anxious. Overwhelmed. Snappy. Impatient. Okay, I was SUCH a bitch last night. After six weeks of closet reduction, space clearing, almost daily yoga and meditation - was it all just a delusion of mindfulness?

So yeah, last night, when I was confronted with my deep seeded need to be in control at all times, I showed my base nature. But unlike that bitchy tiger, I am pretty sure I can eventually change my stripes. Or at least stop buying more.

I spent last weekend peddling my fashion baggage all over Northern
Virginia. It took three consignment stores (who does Current Boutique think she is,
anyway?), one for-the-sisters pile and several trash bags earmarked Goodwill to
shed my worn wears. So how does it feel? Simply put, it feels really good.

The creator of Project 333 suggests that clearing the physical and mental space previously occupied with
shopping and storing purchases allows for richer, more meaningful experiences to
enter your life. So far, its biggest impact on my life is the emotions I’ve left behind. You know that feeling when it’s 8:35 7:35 and you are frantically looking for
a work outfit but you can’t even slide garments down the rack to select
anything because your clothes are packed so tightly? I do not miss that
feeling. Or the one when you try on a dress that you bought online for the
fifteenth time and it still looks weird but it’s been over 30 days and now you
can’t return it. Don’t miss that one, either.

Before I curtailed impulse shopping
and minimized my wardrobe I routinely felt guilt, annoyance and disdain towards my closet.
Now I feel proud, creative, savvy and mindful about pretty much everything. Three months ago I could produce
any number of excuses to buy something new. Now I can’t find an excuse to buy anything
at all! In fact, I missed the boat on these Loeffler Randal sandals and these J.Crew flats in gold, both planned purchases for my summer capsule, because I delayed the
purchase and now they are sold out. On the bright side, I saved myself $568.

How’s this for a rich and meaningful experience? On Sunday
night Matt and I attended the annual Blue Jeans Ball to benefit the Capital
Area Food Bank. Impulsively, we bid $700 on a three night stay in Paris – and
won! That opportunity was made possible by Project 333 – for once, an extra $700
was actually sitting in my bank account. Plus it was for a good cause. ‘Cause we’re
going to Paris!

The round up of outfits in today’s post all share simple
foundations highlighted by joyful pops of color. What a way to live.

Perhaps the omission was a gift from the universe, easing our family’s transition through a late winter cold snap: For several months my toddler forgot to sing the theme song from Frozen. In early April, however; The Frozen Song re-emerged as a thematic element in our collaborative bedtime story. In summary: AJ hosts an egg hunt and all of his cousins are invited (”All of them, Mommy!”). There is a custom Play Doh decorated surprise egg hidden for each cousin. Anna’s egg is wrapped in a tutu and when she opens it a real ballerina dances out (these are big eggs). Caroline’s egg is decorated as an egg and when she cracks it open, baby Ashby is trapped inside and AJ rescues her. Finally, Isabelle opens her egg, emblazoned with a glittering crown, and out jumps Princess Elsa, singing “Let it Go, Let it Go, Let it Go...” At this point he falls asleep softly singing the only words anyone really knows from that song.

Yesterday the nurse at the doctor’s office needed to confirm my last name. “Is it Mapp or Bressan?” After a very pregnant pause I responded “Bressan.” I have been married for nearly six years but man was it hard to let that one go. We cling to things, don’t we? Maiden names, college scrapbooks, dog eared copies of Judy Blume’s Blubber, a $175 silk Joie blouse that never actually looks good on - they all tell a story about who we are, or were. But where is the line between identity and junk?

That evening I enjoyed a glass of champagne with a chic friend to celebrate her newly acquired American citizenship. Thinking back on the last name conversation I asked if the ceremony sparked any sort of identity crisis. “Not at all,” she replied. “I retain both my Swiss and Italian passports.” Leave it to Ada to be a triple citizen of the world. After a moment she added, “It was kind of hard for my Dad, though.”

Today’s outfit wasn’t quite as inspiring as the pink magnolia letting go of her petals in the background. Looking to the indigo top and flats to elevate grey base layers and an overcast spring morning.